Blake Lively: The New Face of Chanel

Blake Lively is now promoting Chanel's new blood red handbag in the latest ad campaign. This seems to be an obvious choice with the way this actress has been almost everywhere lately. Now, I do not mean everywhere as in all over the tabloids. You will rarely see her there unless mentioned in a "Best Dressed" category. She is in almost every fashion and beauty magazine, if not for her makeup, hair, or the latest trend she's sporting by top designers. Designers are smitten over her. From Michael Kors to Lanvin to Karl Lagerfeld. How lucky is this young woman? Those are three designers any person interested in the fashion industry would kill to be oogled by. Who could blame them, though? She is around six foot, blonde, and has a great body. She is sexy but not provocative. Last summer she did a spread in Vogue where her curves were obvious, but covered up for a surf and beach shoot. She might be considered perfect. She has played the classiest but most controversial "It Girl" in the Upper East Side in Gossip Girl, as well as a sell out drug addict playing the ex of Ben Affleck in The Town. Lively is a young woman to be inspired by, in the acting industry, as well as in the fashion industry.

Text Alexandra Faye

Lanvin by Alber Elbaz Spring 2011

Alright, I'm sorry, but what is going on here? I would really love to know what this leather belt-attached-choker is that Alber Elbas has invented. This thing may be innovative and futuristic, but in my eyes, it is completely hideous. From the first time I saw the thing on Blake Lively, I thought, what is that? A friend of mine was with me and said the same comment out loud.

I decided to interview a few friends of mine. One man said he thinks the accessory looks flattering on the model, and he thinks a thin woman would look stylish and beautiful wearing it. However, if a woman was a little heavier and actually had a chest, she could not pull the look off. According to a female college student (a.k.a. my roommate), she said she thinks it would be very hard for an every day woman to be able to pull that off. She said if she were walking around in that, any person she knew would say, "What the fuck?" I asked another young man in his early to mid-twenties, and he said he would think, "I didn't know we were in the movie 'Gladiator'. Do I need to wear a shield and start fighting?"

Now, see, this is not okay. I would very much hope that I never see a person wearing this in my lifetime.

Text Alexandra Faye

Lanvin- Menswear spring 2011

Lets have a little chat about the Lanvin show today in Milan. It's safe to say that the "biker" trend is still going strong; there was definitely a biker-influence in their jackets. The overall collection showed some rough detailing, almost in a sloppy way in construction, yet still solid at the same time. The trousers seemed to be very form fitting and focusing on slim silhouettes. Tim Blanks stated, "The morphing between high performance and something more conservative was the not-quite-sportswear essence of the collection." I could agree with him on that point.

There were heavy textures going on throughout this collection. "You want to touch them, " said Ossendrijber. The collection was bold to say the least and I felt the envelope was being pushed here with the heavy jewelry used in the show. "When women can wear pants, men can wear jewelry," Elbaz said.

On a personal note, I sure wasn't a fan of the sandals. :/

Model: Frederick
Photo: Marcio Madeira